I am grateful to my friend from Deir El Zor Okba al-Ruwaili for having recently clarified to me the meaning of the expression “Min Hab El Rih and Nabt El Shih”, which occurs in many hujaj (or Arabic authentication certificates). Okba tells me that the expression is used by ‘nabati’ or settled folks from Syria as a metaphor for desert authenticity, not just to refer to desert-bred horses but for all things related to the desert. Of course “nabt” means plant in ‘general’, and Okba tells me “al-shih” is an aromatic and medicinal plant specific to the desert (plural “shih”, singular “shiha”, cf. Lady Anne Blunt’s mare “Shieha”), also used to perfume tents into the present day. It’s English name is Artemisia, and below is a photo of one specimen from Saudi Arabia. As to “hab el rih” it means the “wind that blows” as I have mentioned in previous posts devoted to clarifying the meaning of this expression. The meaning is the same, a metaphor for the desert. Okba sent me the hujjah (the mare it refers to is irrelevant) in the photo below as an illustration, my translation below: I the undersigned, Mr. Hamid Muhammad Ali al-Jassim from…